The Texas Tribune reports: Jamie Gonzales, a former program coordinator at the University of Houston’s LGBTQ Resource Center, hasn’t slept well ever since she heard that the center will be disbanded in accordance with Senate Bill 17, a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public higher education institutions. Although she knew the closure was coming after the bill …

NBC News reports: Christopher Worrell, a Florida Proud Boy convicted on seven counts stemming from his actions during the Jan. 6 riot, was scheduled to be sentenced today in Washington, D.C, federal court but is now missing, according to a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. “We are interested in any information the public may …

Courthouse News Service reports: The Walt Disney Company shot back late Thursday against the authority claimed by a Florida-backed oversight board to void agreements giving Disney control of the special district where its theme park is located. It contends that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is essentially the same entity as the previous board, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, …

“We’re having a lot of arguments in this country about transgender issues, and there are some — including the governor or this state — who believe that he should decide what can happen in your family, with your children and not. I don’t want him deciding what happens inside my family. “We have this group now, folks like Ron DeSantis …

The Associated Press reports: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Friday that he has qualified for next week’s Republican presidential debate, becoming the ninth White House hopeful to meet the fundraising and polling thresholds required to participate in the opening face-off of the 2024 campaign. Suarez, 45 and the only Hispanic in the field, will be perhaps the least-known Republican on …

The Verge reports: The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for southern California today as Hurricane Hilary barrels toward the US and Mexico. This is the first time this kind of alert has been issued for sunny SoCal, which is more prone to drought and fire this time of year than hurricanes. A tropical storm watch means “that …

“Now, you may think that the election of 2024 is about, you know, getting rid of Joe Biden. But according to Matt Schlapp, and I assume according to much of team Trump, what it’s really about is you funding Donald Trump’s legal bills. “My interest as an American citizen is primarily in Joe Biden not being President of the United …

Axios reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Friday introduced a longshot resolution to censure and open an investigation into the judge overseeing the federal trial into former President Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It’s the latest example of Trump’s allies closing ranks around the former president and trying to use congressional power to undermine efforts to prosecute …

The New York Times reports: Former President Donald J. Trump plans to upstage the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday by sitting for an online interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to multiple people briefed on the matter. In the past 24 hours, Mr. Trump has told people close to him that he has made up …

Variety reports: Elon Musk’s latest tweak to Twitter, the former name of what he now calls X: Users will no longer be able to block other accounts — as Musk claims the feature “makes no sense.” “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs,” the tech mogul posted on X Friday. “Makes no sense.” X/Twitter describes …

Mediaite reports: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to Twitter Friday to rage against the Justice Department seeking a 33-year prison sentence for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy back in May. Greene, a loyal Trump supporter who has downplayed the events of Jan. 6th, shared a New York Post story regarding Tarrio’s …

Reuters reports: A U.S. judge on Friday declared that Donald Trump had filed a “frivolous” appeal of his decision not to dismiss the first of writer E. Jean Carroll’s two defamation lawsuits stemming from her claims that he raped her. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan also denied Trump’s bid to delay the case while he appeals. “Mr. Trump …

The New Republic reports: Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has a reckless plan for achieving U.S. global dominance: giving away other countries’ territory. Ramaswamy is already under fire for his objectively terrible plan to let China invade Taiwan after 2028 if he were elected. Now, the presidential hopeful thinks that Russia should be allowed to keep the parts of Ukraine …

The Hill reports: Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official charged alongside former President Trump on 2020 election-related crimes in Georgia, is opposing prosecutors’ request for a March trial. Clark’s attorney called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s (D) proposal “highly premature” and expressed concerns about her prosecution on multiple grounds. “The indictment was filed at approximately 10:30 PM on …

“Ian Sams. You know, he he’s a guy that looks to me like he spent his whole high school career stuffed in a locker because he was a smart aleck. And, you know, now he’s out and got a little power and he’s just always, you know, just picking on me and tweeting against me and everything. And he’s getting …

The Nation reports: James O’Keefe, the founder and until this past February CEO of the right-wing nonprofit Project Veritas, is currently under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. While the exact nature of the investigation is not yet public, the timing would suggest that it relates to O’Keefe’s alleged financial improprieties during his tenure as the group’s chairman …

“You know what the plans I like, Kari? Those are all great. Those are all fantastic. But the plans that I know he has because I asked him last week when I sat down with him in Bedminster – he’s gonna go after the deep state. I’d love to see him – and he said he will. Chris Wray, FBI, …

CBS News reports: The CDC announced Thursday it is tracking a recently discovered COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, after a case of the highly-mutated variant was discovered in Michigan. “Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these cases and …

“First of all, the discussion that you had earlier about these threats that are being made and other actions toward grand jurors and people doing their civic duty, showing up and doing their job as Americans, is despicable. And if you’re innocent, start acting like it. I can’t think of anything worse than trying to attack the criminal justice system …

CNN reports: The current thinking among Donald Trump’s campaign advisers and those close to the former president is that he is not planning on participating in next week’s Republican presidential primary debate, three sources familiar with his plans tell CNN, and has been proposing counterprogramming to the event. The sources say that Trump has not done any prep for the …